- Holding the oar handles too tightly. -This is an issue if you are blistering up! If you are seeing blisters the "correct" place for them to show up is in the finger pads beneath the creases. An effective drill in helping to eliminate this issue is to bring your oar handles back to your body using only your thumb and index finger (begin this technique in the catch and continue as you move through the drive portion of the stroke). Hold the handles loosely in your fingers not your fists and you will experience how efficiently and perfectly the oar moves in the oarlock with little effort or exertion.
- Hands uneven. If your boat is tippy and your rowing experience is not smooth your hands are uneven. An effective drill to improve arm positioning is to row without legs (knees lightly flexed) and simply focus on keeping your arms level as if they were sliding over a table. Hands remain level during the catch (knees bent over shins, sitting forward in shell with arms extended) and the recovery (oar handles come back into your body approximately 3" apart and level with and just forward of your sternum).
- Slouching! Soreness or discomfort may develop in your neck or back. Sit tall and image that there was a string coming up from the crown of your head and someone was pulling up on the line. Your chest will subtly lift and your posture will be greatly improved both in and out of your shell. Good posture means a strong and solid posture without stiffness.
- Knees too far apart or too close together. Too far apart encourages slouching, rounding of your spine. Too close together prevents you from coming fully into your catch. Try to prevent yourself from letting your knees splay apart when you're sliding on your seat. Also, it is not recommended to keep your knees held tightly together. Try to row with your knees a fist distance apart
- Leaning too far back during the recovery. This may result inlower back stiffness or discomfort. Sit upright in the recovery hinging back slightly from your hips.
- Looping hands and pulling with back. Results in a feeling of instability when blades are too high in the air on the recovery and pulling too hard when blades drop too deeply into the water during the drive. As previously mentioned, make sure hands remain level throughout the stroke as if sliding on an even surface and remembering that your stroke is one continuous motion.
@ copyright 2007 Echo Rowing
